Pathways to Low Emissions Livestock
Farming in East Africa
James Murombedzi (PhD)
OIC, African Climate Policy Center (ACPC-ECA)
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
02 July 2018

Outline
 Livestock in Africa
 Livestock Greenhouse
Gas (GHG) Emissions and
NDCs
 Pathways to Low GHG
Emissions in the
Livestock Sector

Livestock in Africa…
Livestock sector
• Creates employment opportunities in the
agriculture and industry sectors,
• Provides social capital, an important social
function through which risk is managed,
• Contributes to gender equality by
generating opportunities for women,
• Recycles waste products and residues
from cropping or agro-industries,
• livestock residues as manure and an
energy source for cooking.

Livestock in Africa
In Africa,
• 60-80% of rural households keep
livestock
• fully or partially supports and
sustains livelihoods of 300 million
people(AU, 2015)
• Livestock sector accounts for 25%
of agricultural GDP
In East Africa,
• livestock accounts for 20% of the
national GDP and plays a crucial role
in inter-state trade.
0 20 40 60 80
Cattles
(meat and milk)
Poultery
(meat and egg)
Small ruminants
(meat and milk)
Contributions (%)
Ediblelivestockproducts
Fig. 1. Meat, milk and egg contributions (FAO, 2006)

Livestock in Africa…
Although there are large herds, the sector
remains under developed in East Africa
because of, inter alia,
• Lack of good quality animal feed
• Poor animal health services
• The genetic potential of livestock
• Absence of effective enabling policy
and institutional environment
Moreover, livestock production in this sub-
region will be impacted considerably by
projected climate change and variability.

GHG emission and NDC
• Increased atmospheric
concentration of GHGs
emission over the last century
are strongly correlated with
global warming.
• 93% Chance of avoiding two
degrees of global warming if
greenhouse gas emissions are
reduced by 60% over the next
decade.

GHG emission and NDC
The global annual rate of increase in CH4 is
1.5 and 2.4 times higher than increases in
CO2 and N2O, respectively
0 0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8
CO2
CH4
N2O
% of annual increase
GHGstypes
• Globally, Agriculture accounts
~12% of total anthropogenic
emissions
• Africa, 61% GHGs emission is from
Agriculture & LULUCF

GHG emission and NDC…
Livestock products are responsible for GHGs
emission than most other food sources.
Emission are caused by (FAO, 2010)
https://www.google.cm/search?q=livestock+in+africa&source=lnms
&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwijh7G3gvbbAhULo48KHfH5AYQQ_A
UICigB&biw=924&bih=712#imgrc=MWjdgQjA3uc7zM:
Livestock total emission = 7.1 Gt CO2e

GHG emission and NDC…
However, livestock emissions in sub-Saharan
countries are estimated using the IPCC’s Tier 1
approach regardless of difference in:
– the types of management systems used,
– the quality of the feeds, and
– the species of cattle raised (FAO, 2010)
Hence, actual measurements are necessary for
development of proper emission reduction and
mitigation strategies in Nationally Determined
Contributions (NDCs) (Rufino et al., 2014).
https://www.google.cm/search?q=livestock+in+africa&source=l
nms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwijh7G3gvbbAhULo48KHfH
5AYQQ_AUICigB&biw=924&bih=712#imgrc=MWjdgQjA3uc7zM:

GHG emission and NDC…
• Parties have, therefore, tirelessly negotiated
to reduce emissions from different sectors
including the livestock sector;
…it all started with the Kyoto Protocol
UNFCCC
Founded
Kyoto Protocol Adopted
Kyoto
Protocol’s
1st
Commitm
ent Period
Kyoto Protocol’s 2nd
commitment Period
The Paris
Agreement
Commitment
Period
1992 1997 2002 2007 2012 2017 2022

GHG emission and NDC…
• As of June 2018, out of 54 African countries
signatories to the Paris Agreement (PA), 44
countries have submitted their NDCs to the
UNFCCC showing their commitments to
move beyond the political will (INDC to
NDC);
• Effective implementation of the agreed
NDC’s will, however, partially or directly
depend on the availability of financial
support and technological resources at an
affordable cost and capacity building
intervention by the developed countries.

GHG emission and NDC…
Many African countries have made considerable
progress in preparing for NDC implementation
by:
• pursuing rigorous consultations with
various stakeholders on the implementation
their NDCs,
• developing NDC implementation plans,
designing institutional arrangements and
coordination mechanisms to support NDC
work, and
• designing monitoring systems (MRV) to
measure progress toward NDC goals.

GHG emission and NDC…
Significant challenges and uncertainties remain
regarding:
• Our knowledge of emission rates in different
systems
• Low emissions development options for
sustainable livestock systems
• Mitigation opportunities related to practices
• Policy or economic incentives to change
production methods, and
• How research and knowledge generating
institutions and international development
partners can support the transition toward low
emissions development in livestock production.

Pathways to low GHG emissions
East Africa livestock are kept under two
systems (FAO, 2006)
(i) traditional systems
• pastoral and agro-pastoral systems; and
• mixed systems in the semi-arid, sub-humid
and humid zones
(ii) non-traditional systems
• ranching (meat, dairy);
• smallholder and peri-urban commercial
systems; and
• intensive livestock production in rain-fed or
irrigated systems
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a=1&ei=nl4yW-
KQDYauU5_1i9gK&q=africa+livestock+&oq=africa+livestock+&gs
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252M:

Pathways to low GHG emissions…
The livestock sector can deliver a significant
share of mitigation effort. Emission from
livestock production can be substantially
reduced by;
• Productivity improvements that reduce
emission intensities
– Feed and nutrition
– Animal health and husbandry
– Animal genetic resources
• Carbon sequestration through improved
pasture management
• Better livestock integration in the circular
bio-economy
https://www.google.cm/search?q=livestock+in+africa&source=l
nms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwijh7G3gvbbAhULo48KHfH
5AYQQ_AUICigB&biw=924&bih=712#imgrc=MWjdgQjA3uc7zM:

Pathways to low GHG emissions…
Ethiopia’s low emission pathway, for example,
builds climate resilience and reduces emission
from livestock (mitigation potential = 48 Mt
CO2e in 2030) through:
• Enhancing and intensification of animal mix
diversification = 17.7 Mt CO2e,
• Value chain efficiency improvements
(pastoralists and farmers) = 16.1 Mt CO2e,
• Mechanization (small scale and large scale)
= 11.2 Mt CO2e, and
• Rangeland and pastureland management
= 3Mt CO2e.

Pathway to low GHG emission…
Low carbon and resilient livestock in Africa can
be supported through:
• Strengthening the knowledge and evidence
base by developing baselines, assessments
and projections of emission,
• Developing tools, methods and protocols to
measure emission,
• Piloting and validating technical and policy
options, and
• Facilitating multi-stakeholder partnership
and better integration.

Pathway to low GHG emission…
In order to promote long-term climate actions
and mobilize means of implementation, various
institutions have established NDC partnerships
that work with national, sub-national, non-state
and private sector actors on policies, strategies
and actions tailored to the individual needs of
African countries. Such partnerships include:
• The Africa NDC Hub,
• African Partnership Facility for NDCs,
• NDCs Partnership and
• AFD new NDC facility.